It all started with Christmas
by NCIState
Summary: NCIS Christmas involving music, dancing, presant, mistletoe & TATE.
1. Chapter 1

Abby Sciuto skipped into the bullpen, music bombarding from her portable CD player._  
__  
Snow is fallin'  
all around me  
children playing, havin' fun_

It's the season  
love and understanding  
Merry Christmas everyone

Time for parties and celebration  
people dancing all night long  
time for presents  
and exchanging kisses  
time for singing Christmas songs__

'Merry Christmas Tony!' She cheered.  
'Hey Abs, Merry Christmas!' Her grinned back. 'Nice outfit' He laughed. She was wearing a red 'Santa' coat with white ruffles at the wrist, black pants also with white ruffles at the ankle with a glowing belt that read 'Merry Christmas' and her hair in bunches with bobbles shaped like Mr. Clause himself.  
'Thanks! I love your hat!' She said, pointing to his hat that had a Santa bobbing around at the top. He picked up a medium sized Santa sack and ventured into it. He pulled out a box wrapped in black and red.  
'For you' He grinned. She took to gift from him and wrapped him in a tight hug.  
'Thank you!' She looked over at Kate's desk and seen several gifts flooding her desk, but no Kate. 'Hey, where's Kate?'  
'Not here yet' Abby nodded and added to the flooding presents, when she heard Tony jump off his seat and scurry across the floor.  
'Kate shut your eyes!' He shouted as he ran towards her. Her eyes widened at the oncoming 'traffic'. She stopped in her steps when Tony ran over and scooped her in his arms.

'Tony put me down!' She squirmed in his arms but couldn't get loose. 'Tony!'  
'Close your eyes and then I'll put you down' He insisted. Kate tried to break out from his grasp with no luck. Abby laughed at the scene. Pouting, Kate closed her eyes and let Tony take her to her seat and place her in her chair. 'Open your eyes' A grin merged onto Kate's face at the sight of all the presents and cards. She looked at the tags on all of the gifts. One from McGee, a few from Abby, One from Ducky, there was even a small one hiding in from Gibbs! She was surprised to see that most of the gifts were from Tony, small and big.  
'Thank you' Abby held out her arms for a hug, which Kate accepted. When they broke from the hug Kate turned to Tony and gave him a huge hug, making him grin, yet another grin. He rubbed her back and kissed her cheek.  
'Merry Christmas Kate!' came from Tony. Abby pressed a button on her CD Player and 'Jingle Bell Rock' began to play. Tony took Kate and Abby's hands and led them into the center of the bullpen. He began to groove, dancing with them both. Abby saw McGee approaching from the elevator.  
'Tim!' Abby dragged McGee into the bullpen and began dancing with him, leaving Tony and Kate to dance with each other. They stretched apart and Tony held her hand and twirled her in. Abby once again changed the song, and 'I saw mommy kissing Santa Clause' came on. Tony put his arms on Kate's waist and she put hers on his shoulders. He beamed at Kate.  
'I've never seen you so happy before'  
'It's Christmas, it's a happy time' She put her head on his chest as they began to dance more peacefully. 'Thank you for all the presents, I've got one for you' She pulled away from him and headed for her bag. She pulled out 3 gifts and handed them to Tony, Abby and McGee.  
'Happy Christmas!' She shouted. Tony snuck up behind Kate with mistletoe and twirled her around. She looked up at the mistletoe and laughed.  
'How did I know you were gonna bring that in?'  
'You know what happens now?' He grinned goofily at her.  
'Seeing as it's tradition, I suppose I could let you off' She leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the lips. 'Any other day I would just glare at you in disgust and walk away' She laughed. He smiled back at her and pulled her in for another hug.  
'Seeing as I'll never get another chance, I thought I'd hug you again' He grinned. When they broke Kate smiled up at him.  
'If you don't get on my nerves today, I'll let you hug me anytime' Tony jumped excitedly like a child. 'Yay! Tony likey Katie's huggys' Kate laughed.  
'And Katie likey Tony's huggys' She blushed. 'Damn, that felt weird to say' This time it was Tony's turn to laugh. Just then, Kate saw Gibbs approaching. She turned away from Tony and pulled out another gift from her bag. When Gibbs entered their work area and sat down, she gave him his gift. He took the gift and she could have sworn she saw a smile creep up the sides of his mouth.  
'Thank you, Kate'  
'Merry Christmas' She smiled, before going to open the gifts at her desk. She started with the several ones from Tony.  
'Hey Tony, why so many presents?' She called to Tony in his desk. She saw a blush creep up his neck.  
'Um, I was in a really happy mood when I was buying your present and I got a bit carried away' He admitted.  
'But this stuff must've cost a bomb'  
'Meh, You're worth it' He said as he turned back to his computer screen. 'I still need to give Ducky his present' He thought out loud.  
'Me too, you wanna go now?' Kate suggested. Tony got up from his chair and picked up the present.  
'Sure' Kate followed him into the elevator. She pushed a button and the elevator began to descend. 'Thank you for all the gifts, Tony' He put his arm around her waist, pulled her close and kissed her forehead. 'Aww, what was that for?'  
'I don't know. Today just seems different. You're welcome for the gifts by the way' the elevator opened and Tony and Kate walked into Autopsy. Kate realized Tony still had his arm around her, but funnily enough she didn't care. He was right, today was different.  
'Hey Ducky!' She called. Ducky looked over his back and saw Tony and Kate.  
'Hello Caitlin, Anthony. Well you two seem very close today' He smiled. Tony realized his arm was still around Kate and he quickly removed it.  
'Oops, sorry' He mumbled.  
'It's okay' She reassured. She hugged Ducky and kissed his cheek. 'Merry Christmas Ducky' she said, giving him his gift. Tony also gave him a gift.  
'Merry Christmas to all' He said, pulling two gifts from behind his back and handing them to both agents. 'Oh, I have something else. Close your eyes and put out your hands' He told them both. They did as instructed. Ducky put half of a broken heart in each of the agents hands. They both looked in confusion. 'A bell is no bell 'til you ring it, A song it no song 'til you sing it, And love in your heart wasn't put there to stay. Love isn't love 'til you give it away. Remember, You don't have to go looking for love when it's where you come from' Ducky said before going back to work. Kate looked up at Tony and smiled as they walked back into the elevator. Before pressing the up button, she took Tony's hand and placed her paper next to his, creating a full heart.


	2. Chapter 2

t had been a few weeks since Christmas and Kate started to wonder why Ducky had been going on about love at Christmas, and why he was only talking about it to her and Tony. She got up and sat facing Tony on his desk.  
'...Tony' He looked up at her.  
'Yeah?'  
'Why do you think Ducky gave us them paper hearts?'  
'No idea, and why was he going on about love just to us?' Kate got down off the desk.  
'Hmm, Do you think we should go ask him? She suggested.  
'Nah, He'll have forgotten about it by now' Kate got up off the desk and sat back down at her computer. She opened her drawer, pulled out her sketchpad and began to flick through her drawings. When she got to the one of Tony she realized there was a note tucked in. She picked up the paper and began to read.  
_Do I love you because you're beautiful, or are you beautiful because I love you?  
_She smiled at the note then came to a realization.  
'Tony, he's doing it again' she moaned.  
'Who's doing what, where?' He asked, confusion filling his face. She got up with the note and marched over beside Tony.  
'Ducky! He tucked this note into my drawing of you' Came from an annoyed Kate. Tony turned in his chair to face away from Kate, got up and moved to the opposite side of the desk.  
'Errr, I don't think that was Ducky'  
'So who was it?' A blush filled his face. 'Was it you?' She asked, suddenly becoming quiet. He began to fake laugh.  
'Haha, no! What would make you think that?' Kate walked around and slipped her hands in his.  
'Tony' She recited, staring into his eyes. He sighed.  
'Yes, yes. It was me okay' He announced whilst sitting back in his chair, head in hands.  
'Aww, Tony! That's so sweet! But is it true? Do you _love_ me?' She asked, gulping.  
'What if I said yes?' Kate just stared at him. Is he saying he does? He _loves_ me? The awkward atmosphere was saved by Gibbs entering with paperwork.  
'Good news' He called, grinning 'You got paperwork' He placed the files on both agents' desk and sat at his own. 'You gonna sit down Agent Todd?' She quickly ran to her desk to sit down.__

- - -

A couple of hours later a 'beep' sounded from Kate's computer. She clicked on the flashing mail box and read the contents.

_Look, I know I just made you feel pressured and I know you don't like me that way. I understand that things will be weird around us but I really don't want this to ruin our friendship. Yes, I love you, a lot. More than I thought possible. You're the only woman that's ever meant this much to me. I quote 'A hundred hearts would be to few, to carry all my love for you' I wish I didn't feel this way and mess everything up, but I can't help falling in love with you.  
Tony.  
_  
By the time she finished reading, her eyes were sparkling with unshed tears. She clicked 'reply' and began to type.

_I'll admit. I don't love you, but I do like you and I would really like to have a relationship with you. I used to love you and I was going to ask you out, but I thought you would just turn me down and make fun of me later. Maybe a date would bring all those feelings back?  
Kate x_

She re-read what she'd wrote and clicked send, making Tony's computer beep. Gibbs sighed.  
'You know, if you want to talk to each other there isn't a rule against it. I'm not your teacher in high school'  
This made Tony zone out and think about high school. He went over all the woman he'd dated and realized none of then were as gorgeous as Kate is. Hell, they didn't even come close. He read the email and smiled at it. He looked over at her, not realizing he was staring at her for more than needed.  
'8 o'clock?' He asked, raising an eyebrow. She nodded in response and turned back to her paperwork. He was still staring at her, although this time his gaze had became lower. He let his mind do the walking, grinned and lounged back in his seat.


End file.
